


After the sun

by lunaticluna



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Hufflepuff Harry Potter, Hufflepuff Neville Longbottom, Hufflepuff Pride, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29138256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaticluna/pseuds/lunaticluna
Summary: “I'd chase after the sun for the rest of my life if it meant I could just get one moment with you.” Harry blurted out.Cedric quirked up an eyebrow and turned around to face the young boy.“Sorry, I wasn't paying attention, what did you say?”----------------------------------Hedric fic where third year Hufflepuff Harry has a big ass crush on Cedric aka the golden boy of Hogwarts and gets invited to an end of the year party organized by the Weasley twins. Let's just say when he asked for their help to get Cedric to agree on going as his plus one... things didn't go quite as expected.[THIS IS THE FIRST FF I HAVE EVER WRITTEN PLEASE BEAR WITH ME, THANK YOU]
Relationships: Cedric Diggory/Harry Potter
Comments: 4
Kudos: 59





	After the sun

**Author's Note:**

> { This was supposed to be a one shot but I ehhh kinda wrote more than that sooo now it's probably going to be a few chapters long? Maybe 3,4,5 I don't know, ANYWAY enjoy??}

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

Ladies and gentlemen,

You are invited you to our end of year party! 

It'll be held at 6 PM sharp  
in the Gryffindor common room 

We require no dress code, although all participants must bring a date  
(or two, if you're a lucky fella )

We await your arrival on June 29th, where you, distinguished guests, can drink, eat, party, and enjoy any other extracurricular activities to your heart's content. 

If you do decide to ignore our generous invitation and not attend, know that you will not be invited to any of our future gatherings.

Formally,  
Fred and George Weasley 

PS: Bring your own booze, ya twats. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry quickly shoved the letter into his pocket before entering the crowded classroom and taking his usual seat.

“Merlin, I thought you disappeared or something.” Neville mumbled, sitting down on the chair next to him.  
“How'd it go?” 

Harry sighed and turned to his friend with a grim expression. 

“I had this whole speech planned out right?” He confessed, gesturing violently in the air.

“And then when I actually came up to talk to him, I panicked,…and I just, I just started spitting out non-sense! You should've seen the look on his face. Nev, I'm such an idiot.” 

Neville looked at him for a few seconds, trying to suppress his lips from turning into the customary "I told you so" grin, before placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.  
“Don't worry 'bout it too much, mate. You still got plenty of chances to ask him out.”

‘Yeah, plenty of chances. As if.’

It has been two weeks since that bloody party invitation arrived, and every day Harry read it again, and again, anxiously hoping it would just disappear. 

"All participants must bring a date  
(or two, if you're a lucky fella )". 

It wasn't as if he couldn't secure a date, there have been several girls and even guys who showed interest in him for the past couple of months or so, it's just that he had his eye set on one person and one person only. And that someone is none other than Cedric bloody Diggory. The golden boy. His house's pride and joy. Hogwarts heartthrob. And somehow also the most unapproachable guy that stepped inside the castle this century.

Harry prompted his chin on his hands as he fought the urge to close his eyes shut and fall asleep right then and there. He had stayed up all night thinking of ways to get Cedric to notice him, hold a conversation with him, but he was surrounded by his friends at all times, following him around like little drones. Yet, the one moment when he wasn't cornered by his entourage, Harry blew it. 

‘This is rubbish. What if I decided to not bring anyone? Yeah, what would I do then?’ 

The silence was interrupted by a loud cough, pulling the young Hufflepuff back into reality.

“Mister Potter-”

Harry almost jolted up at the sound of Snape's voice. He looked around frantically and noticed the rest of the students staring at him and giggling behind their books. 

‘How long has he been standing there?’

Before he could even think of anything to say, the wizard felt Neville's palm strike his back, making him unwilling jerk forward, smashing his head into his desk.

Laughter ruptured inside the stuffy classroom. 

“Sorry, professor. I think he just spaced out for a second. Ain't that right, Harry?” The blonde boy inquired, a tinge of sarcasm coating his words as he tried to hold in a giggle. 

Harry looked at him with widened eyes, still baffled at the state of the situation, as he muttered a quiet "Yes". 

“It may seem so, Mister Longbottom” Snape replied with a tight lipped smile.  
“Make sure it never happens again.” 

Both Hufflepuffs nodded slowly as the crowd started to quiet down and the potions master turned back to his lecture. 

“Merlin, Nev, you almost slapped me into another dimension.” Harry whispered to his friend. 

“Nah, ain't that lucky.” The blonde grinned.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ah, look what mum sent you, Gins” George said amused holding up a piece of crumpled bright yellow taffeta. 

“Isn't it preeetty?” Fred continued, dragging out the last word. 

Harry had been trying to ask the twins about the party requirements for the past couple of minutes, standing idly, hoping for a chance to intervene in their conversation. He knew the two noticed him, but it looked like they were too focused on their conversation with their sister. 

“Well, Fred, if you think it's so pretty, perhaps you should wear it.” Ginny argued with a victorious smile. 

“Low blow, Gins-” The twins commented in unison.

“Low blow, indeed.” Harry butted in, earning a proud smile from the two boys. 

“Well if it isn't our favorite person” Fred exclaimed joyfully. 

“Oh my, what have we done to be deserving of breathing your air, Lord Potter.” The other twin asked sarcastically before bowing.

Harry smiled to himself, letting out a laugh at the little comment. He's always adored their antics. 

“Actually, I need to speak to you about something” 

He inched closer as George raised an eyebrow.

“About the party.” He further clarified, almost whispering. 

Taking in his serious tone, the two Gryffindors paused for a moment before returning to their gleeful smiles and whispering back. 

“Look mate, if it's about the bringing your own booze then-”

“No, it's not about the booze.” Harry shyly admitted, interrupting Fred. 

The twins gave each other confused looks before grabbing Harry by both arms and dragging him into an isolated corner of the common room. 

“Aight, mate-”

“Spill.”

Harry sighed, feeling defeated once again.

“I can't get a date.” He confessed sheepishly. 

Fred burst out in laughter before turning to Harry and ruffling his hair. 

“I mean, you could never compare to our dashing looks, ain't that right Georgie?” 

“Very good point, Freddy.” The other twin agreed.

“But that doesn't mean you aren't a catch. Merlin, you're the most famous person of our generation.” Fred added.

“Granted, only until we open our shop, then you'll have some real celebrity competition.”

“So, seeing as Hogwarts is full of girls”

“And guys,” George highlighted with a grin.

“Who would love to spend a night with The Boy Who Lived,”

“Where's the problem?” The two finished off their speech in unison. 

‘I don't know how they manage to do this everytime.’

“Well, the thing is, I don't want to just go with anyone, I want to bring someone… specific.” Harry paused for a few moment before speaking up again. “I want to bring Cedric.”

“Cedric Diggory? Hufflepuff favorite? Well-He is rather…dense.”

“But it's not as if it's not doable. You just need a little bit of a tactic to get rid of his minions. We can manage.”

“That we can, Freddy boy.” 

“Wait, you're gonna help me?” Harry asked, surprised at the sudden turn of events.

“Of course, your Lordship”

“And we happen to have the perfect plan.” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

Two days have passed since Harry's encounter with the Weasleys and he was begging to grow even more impatient.  
“They said they'd help me , but nothing has happened. Is their plan to do bloody nothing?”

It was then when he remembered the twins don't make any promises they can't keep. And it was also then when he felt a pull at his heart and his hand glide up in the air. And a crash. And agonizing pain. And Cedric next to him- wait, Cedric was here?!  
Harry perked his head up and looked around the empty hallway. He was just about to go to DADA class when…

It didn't take long for a swarm of students to flood in and gather around Harry and Cedric, who were currently lying on the stone floor, unable to move. 

“Make way, make way.” Lupin said, elbowing his way through the crowd.  
“Can you lads stand up? Here, I'll help you.” He gave a worrying glance to the young boys before extending his arm. 

Harry tried to scramble back up on his feet but felt something pull him back down on the ground and he fell again. 

‘What in Morgana's name…Did he-’

The hufflepuff turned his head to the side and eyed Cedric curiously. Everything seemed perfectly fine. His neat caramel hair was tucked behind his ear, shining as always, his grey eyes were staring up at the ceiling, ever so slightly blinking, he didn't have any bruises or cuts, and his clothes didn't have any holes in them-

(Now is not the time to daydream, for Merlin's sake-)

Wait, his clothes! 

Harry squinted, maybe it was a trick of the light? No, it couldn't be. There it was. A thin, pinkish line, almost invisible, connecting Cedric's shoulder and Harry's. 

‘What the bloody hell is that?- Merlin, now I sound like Ron.’

A pair of black shoes walked up to the spot where they were laying and kneeled down to take a closer look at the two. 

“I see. How is that it's always you that gets into trouble, Potter” The man grunted with a deep sigh. 

Snape.

Wait, what was Snape doing here?

(WHY IS EVERYTHING SO CONFUSING?)

“I'll get this one, you get the other one.” He shouted over his shoulder. 

“Bring him to Pomfrey. Carefully.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

The hospital wing was as sad and cold as it had always been, with white walls and flooring, the whole establishment gained a strange sense of surrealness. 

Cedric didn't remember how he really got there. He was on his way to the Defence classroom to pick up his notebook that he left behind when he… fell? It was a strange sensation. Like every fiber of you body was detached and reattached again. Had someone attacked him? Perhaps it was Harry, since he was the only one he saw in the hallway. But he didn't seem like the person to attack. He also didn't hear any incantations being said. The gears in his head started to shift trying to rationalize that afternoon's events, when he felt a tug at his shoulder.

“No, don't move.” Madam Pomfrey said firmly. “It will only bring you both pain” 

Pain? Both? Cedric scanned the room briefly. There were only a few people in their vicinity. A few injured students turning in their beds, Professor Lupin and Professor Snape chatting lively in a corner about something he couldn't quite discern, and there, to his right, stood a green eyed boy with crooked glasses and messy black hair. Had Harry been attacked too? 

“Don't worry boys, I did a quick analysis and you seem to be completely uninjured, mentally and physically. Well, with one exception. ” 

The stern witch took a long pause before pinching the bridge of her nose and muttering something about "kids with too much time on their hands"

“Alright, I'll tell you, just stop looking at me like a dear in headlights, it's unnerving.” She sighed glancing briefly at Harry. 

“It's the product of a prank, most likely. Somebody really wanted you two to stick together. ”

“Stick together?” the younger boy asked softly. His tone was calm and steady, and it gave Cedric a sense of stability, keeping him from detaching completely from his surroundings. 

“Well, if you haven't noticed, you two are connected by some kind of string.” Pomfrey further explained and pointed towards the space between the two. Cedric blinked a few times and squinted his eyes, when he noticed it. Yes, there was indeed some kind of string attached to him. 

“It seems like it's going to keep shrinking as time passes by. And, weirdly enough, it has the texture of bubblegum.” Lupin intervened letting our a soft laugh, trying to lighten up the mood. 

Cedric barely noticed the two professors standing in front of him, carefully watching the Hufflepuffs. His eyes were fixated on Harry. Was he behind all of this? The boy was too calm, too poise. Cedric brushed away his suspicions and turned his attention to the one question that kept buzzing in his mind. 

“Can you get it removed?”

Pomfrey opened her mouth to speak but Snape pushed her aside and stepped closer to the 6th year. 

“No. Not now at least. Madam Pomfrey fears that if we remove it forcefully, it might damage your magical core, as the string is bound by your magic. So she decided to try and find a way to get rid of it without it harming any of you.” 

A loud cough echoed through the room.

“Thank you, Severus, but I can speak for myself.” The mediwitch sneered.  
Snape gave her a brisk snarl before mumbling about “people these days” and turning to face Harry.

“Ah, and Potter? This was left in the hallway, addressed to you. It's been charmed so that only you can read it. Don't bother telling me what it's about.” The potions master turned on his heels, dragged his cape in an overly dramatic manner, and made his exit, shoes clicking on the white floor as he strut out of the room. 

Cedric watched as Harry unfolded the small piece of parchment and scanned over the words with wide eyes. 

“Well, shit.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------


End file.
